(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts^(E) of God’s holy people.)

⁹ Then the angel said to me,^(F) “Write this:^(G) Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”^(H) And he added, “These are the true words of God.”^(I)

² I saw the Holy City,^(A) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(B) prepared as a bride^(C) beautifully dressed for her husband.

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues^(A) came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride,^(B) the wife of the Lamb.”

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands^(A) as you do to the Lord.^{(B) 23} For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,^(C) his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands^(D) in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives,^(E) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her^{(F) 26} to make her holy,^(G) cleansing^[a] her by the washing^(H) with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself^(I) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.^{(J) 28} In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives^(K) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body.^{(L) 31} “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[b](M) 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife^(N) as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.